THE Employee Census System (E-Census), which will provide Government with accurate data on its employees that is critical to the the public sector transformation process, is not likely to be implemented before the end of 2013.

The disclosure was made recently by Cabinet Secretary, Ambassador Douglas Saunders, when he appeared before Parliament's Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).

"We don't really, for example, right now have an accurate reading of for example what are the government's pension obligations," he confessed.

"We have a rough estimate: These figures that have been bandied around are rough estimates , but this system will allow us to specifically obtain information on how many persons, at what date they are due to retire and the trip in of pension obligations and so on," Saunders said.

"So the E-census, subject to funding for the procurement to be concluded, we would think would be up and running by the end of the next calendar year," he added.

The Employee Census System (E-Census) was developed in 2011 by the Public Sector Transformation Unit with the support and approval of the Cabinet Office, and in collaboration with Fiscal Services Ltd (FSL) created in 1985 as the main provider of ICT solutions and services for the Government.

According to a report tabled in Parliament by the Cabinet Office, the E-Census system is a web-based application that utilises data captured in the public sector census to provide quick and efficient means of keeping employees' information current; the government with information on demand and key metrics for strategic planning, and as a mechanism towards full migration to a selected human resources software for the public sector.

Saunders said that when fully developed and accessible via the internet, the E-Census will be made available to all MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies) through the use of assigned usernames and passwords, centrally administered by an administrator. All information on the employees will be made available to the MDAs on-line for editing and updating.